MHA designates 1 Kerala, 2 Gujarat seaports as official immigration checkposts

New Delhi [India], November 21 (ANI): The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has designated three new seaports, namely the Vizhinjam International Seaport in Kerala, Hazira Port in Gujarat, and Pipavav Port in Gujarat as official designated immigration checkposts by amending its earlier notification under the Immigration and Foreigners Act, 2025.
"Ministry of Home Affairs has amended its earlier notification under the Immigration and Foreigners Act, 2025, adding three more seaports to Category II entry points. According to the latest Gazette notification (S.O. 5306(E)), Vizhinjam International Seaport in Kerala, Hazira Port in Gujarat, and Pipavav Port in Gujarat have now been officially included as designated immigration check-posts," according to a statement from the Press relations officer (PRO) of Vizhinjam port.
According to notification issued on November 20, the MHA designated them as Category 2 seaports.
Earlier in September MHA had named around 37 airports, 34 sea and river ports 37 international land crossing points as the designated immigration posts for entry and exit of international passengers. The MHA had also named six railway stations along the India-Pakistan and India-Bangladesh borders as designated immigration posts.
The earlier notification named airports in Lucknow, Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Calicut (Kerala), Varanasi, Bagdogra, Bangalore, Bhubaneswar, Raja Bhoj International Airport, Bhopal, Chandigarh, Chennai, Cochin, Coimbatore, Dabolim (Goa), Delhi, Gaya (Bihar), Guwahati, Hyderabad, Indore (Madhya Pradesh), Jaipur and Kolkata.
Other airports from Nagpur, Patna, Port Blair, Pune, Srinagar, Surat, Trichy (Tamil Nadu), Thiruvananthapuram, Tirupati, Visakhapatnam, and Vijayawada (Andhra Pradesh), Mangalore, Mumbai, Kannur (Kerala), Madurai (Tamil Nadu), including Manohar International Airport, Mopa (Goa) were included.
The seaports are Alang (Gujarat), Agati and Minicoy Island (Lakshadweep), Bedi Bunder (Jamnagar, Gujarat), Bhavnagar (Gujarat), Calicut (Kerala), Chennai, Karimganj (Assam), Kamarajar (Tamil Nadu), Kollam (Kerala), Mandvi ( Gujarat), Mormagoa Harbour (Goa), Mundra (Gujarat), Mumbai, New Mangalore, Nagapattinum (Tamil Nadu), Nhava Sheva (Maharashtra), Paradeep (Odisha), Porbander, Port Blair, Silghat (Assam), among many others.
The designated landports were in the cities Agartala, Dhalaighat, Khowal, Muhurighat, Ragna, Kailashahar, Sabroom, Srimantapur all in Tripura with Sabroom in South Tripura; Gauriphanta, Rupaidiha, Sonauli in Uttar Pradesh; Jogbani and Raxaul in Bihar, Moreh, Kawrpuichhuah, Zorinpui, Moreh in Manipur; Kawrpuichhuah, Zorinpui, Zokhawthar in Mizoram.
Munabao (Rajasthan), Attari (Punjab), Gede Rail and Road Check Post, Petrapole/Chitpur, Haridaspur, and New Jalpaiguri Railway Station in West Bengal were the railports also designated as immigration posts. E-visa facility has been enabled in over 31 airports and 6 seaports too. (ANI)